They're here. I'm about 9 miles south of Cincinnati.We got some pictures of them the other night, take a look.

Here is a link that might be useful:

OK.These guys are everywhere here in louisville, in my neighborhood at least.I was out working on my rose garden and they were flying everywhere. Have a whole bunch of "injured" cicadas laying on my deck, they keep flying into my patio doors!! The birds are having a great time catching them at least!

Nice Picture Tbyrd. I'm hoping to get some of my own when thye finally come out in my neighborhood

They are everywhere this morning in Mt. Healthy! Yesterday I only say a few on some trees. Today, lots of shells, and lots of bugs! The nice little down pour we had yesterday did it for us. Lovely.

The first in my neighborhood came out yesterday. (White Oak area of Cincinnati) Pretty cool watching these critters come out of their shell. I've got some nice pictures from head out of the shell to full wing expension. (Yawn... I stayed up too late last night) That was about 1.5 to 2 hours. I hope to follow another from beginning to end. This time a little higher off the ground. The one I got was on a daylily leaf. Lots of squatting. :)

Now... i need to figure out how to post pics

We heard a few yesterday in my area of Northern KY (near Florence), and few more singing in the trees today. We also started seeing the shells starting to cover small trees in patches along the edge of the woods. Many of the new subdivisions are devoid for the time being. I'm sure they'll migrate into "uninfested areas" though.

the hatch is very scattered here in the south of Dayton. The old woods at the west side of Cox Arboretum experienced a significant hatch, but the main part of the arboretum experienced little. I live about 3 miles east and have seen none

Last night was it for me .... they are everywhere.

I am just SW of Dayton in Germantown.

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Still haven't seen any in downtown Columbus -- anyone else?

None here in Hilliard (northwest Columbus)- so far....

..Beverly

Nada in Upper Arlington (also northwest Columbus). My son asked me about that yesterday. Haven't heard anything about it from friends in outlying areas either.

Karen

I got an email from a friend who said that a few cicada were spotted in Dublin, Oh (northwest Columbus) - not many though.

...Beverly

I found this bit of info last night from a friend.... like hunting for 4 leaf clovers? Try looking for blue eyed cicadas! They compared finding them to finding a 4 leaf clover. Has anyone heard of that? Has anyone seen one???

I've only seen the red eyed versions so far

WOW.. I finally heard them here in Louisville. They were loud enough for me to here them while driving down the highway WITH my radio on! Though there hasn't been a single one out at my house.. probably due to the lack of trees

Here is a link that might be useful: My Gardens

Some friends from Mt. Sterling said there is a small amount of Cicada there now.

...Beverly

Yesterday we visited my mom, who lives in Deer Park. The kids were pretty excited to find cicadas in her backyard, until they realized *how many* were there! They'd never seen so many insect bodies in one place. It was cool when they spotted them clinging to the wooden swingset, but when they saw the pile underneath a silver maple...and when I held one by the wings in front of my 6 yo son...they were ready to go inside!

In the course of the day's errands, we drove through Fairfield and Hamilton. We heard pockets of them in Fairfield Township, but once across Liberty-Fairfield road, none. Interesting. Our own subdivision was built in 1978, and has plenty of trees, so you'd think we would have some, but no. I'm not complaining. :-)

The cicadas have just started to come out in my neighborhood - Loveland. Not too many yet, and I don't expect to be overrun. The neighbors say there aren't as many here as the west side of Cincinati.

Lots of them in Dublin, and man can they be loud. People over in Powell are reporting not seeing any yet.

I think my back yard in NW DC is ground zero. Every plant is covered with them. Their exoskeletons are starting to pile up. I saw a couple coming out of their exoskeletons last night - spooky. They are deafening in the afternoon. Literally. I came in from doing some yard work over the weekend and my ears were ringing.

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EEEK! I haven't seen any yet. I don't know if I'm relieved or disappointed.

Yikes...it's kind of creepy. I still haven't seen any "in person" yet.

Someone in the tomatoe forum said they are eating the tomato plants. Boo-hoo.

...Beverly

Um... might want to read that tomato forum 'report' again. It is a site making fun of the cicada news reports and such. Very tounge-in-cheek.

Moosedog...you're so right! I just saw the title of the thread late last night and didn't read it. Funny...I take it back - no tomato eating cidadas!!!

I haven't seen any yet either, and I am actually a little disappointed. I feel.... slighted.

And I have been dreading this all spring!

Storygardener,

No big deal. I just didn't want people getting all worried.

All,

Mating has begin in my yard and little dead bodies are scattered around the yard. The # of emerging critters is starting to decrease. I think they are on the way to being fertilizer.

Man, they are thick here in Hyde Park (inc Cincinnati). My whole front yard, which is groundcover, looks like Jeanner's picture above.

My worst fear, however, has not been realized. I teach at Taft HS, downtown, and I was afraid the cicadas would be buzzing into the windows. It's all concrete parking lot on my side of the building, though; no cicada problems at school at all. I could picture all the kids running out of the room, or worse yet, having to close the windows.

By the way, here's a link to that cicada site that was mentioned above. Don't forget to click on the links on the left side.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cicada horrors

Last day of May here, and i have only seen a few live ones and several exoskeletons. I was sure expecting more by now with that big warm spell past. With the 6+ inches of rain we had yesterday in the huge storms, perhaps they will show up now.
Maybe not??!!
Toni
Wolfe County, KY

Youza!

Still no sign of the cicadas in Victorian Village, Grandview or Milo-Grogan, but I was in Cincinnati for the weekend, and the cicadas were pretty thick in Kennedy Heights. They were relatively tame during the rain and greyness on sunday, but they were in full voice in the sunshine Monday afternoon. We were all talking a lot more loudly while we were grilling out.

That said, they weren't particularly annoying. They're so big and clumsy when they fly that it's fairly easy to get out of their way. You have to have someone do a "back check" before you sit down, to make sure there aren't any clinging to you, but they're easily plucked off and tossed out the door.

My nephew claims he finds the sound soothing. I recorded some sounds, and may call his bluff; make an endless loop tape he can use to help him drift off to sleep.....

I haven't seen a single one here in Bexley (or anywhere else around Columbus). I heard they had them in one neighborhood, Minerva Park.

Has anyone heard any predictions that we may actually not have them at all? Or is there a chance they are yet to come?

I don't think they've had any in Dublin for the golf tournament or- any significant amount.

..Beverly

Yes...the cicada's are at the Memorial Golf tournament in Dublin - singing along with the golfers. I just heard the report on the radio.
..Beverly

I live in Dublin on Riverside Drive and we have millions of cicadas! You should have seen my husband and I on Saturday trying to weed eat and mow. They thought we were giant cicadas and kept flying into us. Not to mention how nasty flying cicada parts look.

My family from Marion was petrefied when they were here for a cookout Monday, they have never seen them. Luckily, we have a scrrened porch or the cookout would have been cancelled.

The noise is non-stop, I can't wait for the silence in a few weeks.

Rhonda

Here here, we've had about enough of them in Dublin too. Thankfully the noise ceases at night.

I think I ran over about 4 million of them when mowing last week.

Okay you Dublin people - nada here in Upper Arlington. Fatso, where are you - out in the country perhaps. It's wierd because I live near the OSU golf course and thought all the pesticides there might have something to do with it. But if they're up at the tournament, who knows? Which tent are they checked in at?

I'm off McCoy Road one block off from the golf course.

If you're in Central Ohio, you might want to pick up a copy of The Other Paper which has a nice little article by Kristen Convery about the cicadas. While I disagree with Shetlar's charactorization of who settled Cincinnati, it does explain why cicadas are so thick down there, and so hit-or-miss here in Columbus. Here's a part:

....In most places in Central Ohio, people won't hear cicadas at all, despite countless news stories to the contrary.

That's because much of the city was settled as farmland, and clearing forests means killing the tree roots that cicadas feed on during their underground dormant stage, said Dave Shetlar, an OSU entomologist who calls himself "the bug doc".

"Anywhere during that 17 years of their development, if the trees are killed or removed, there's nothing for them to feed on," Shetlar said. And since the cicada population has the opportunity to spread out only once every 17 years, it takes a long time to establish a population in a new area. The roots of a towering 34-year-old tree have been around for only two cicada lifespans....

Shetlar said Cincinnati is the cicada hub because the river and hills weren't suitable for farmland, so "it was colonized orginally by some fairly rich landlord-type people" who didn't knock down all the trees.

Flat Columbus, on the other hand, was a farmer's dream. So people who want to see cicadas will have to get close to the rivers or old, well-established woods.

Alison,

That article probably explains why I have so many cicadas. I live on the river with tons of old trees. There were a few VERY old apple trees (we were told many were planted by Johnny Appleseed, but you know how widespread that story is) when we first moved here. Unfortunately, they have passed away. But, there are several other trees well over 150 years old remaining.

Even though the cicadas are annoying, I feel sorry for something that takes 17 years to reach adulthood then dies after a few weeks. I'll have to learn to be more tolerant.

Alison, that makes perfect sense. By the way, your red scabiosas from the swap (I got as backup) are blooming and are just beautiful. Thanks again. Mine are still about 4 inches. I suspect they're in too much shade. I'm sure they will catch up.

Well, I had a slug on my leg this morning and I'm just walking around with the thing not realizing it. I suppose that's enough creep-out for one day.

That's a good article from the Other Paper, Alison, thanks! It really does make sense.

I did see one cicada yesterday. It was in the parking lot of a shopping center and a bird ate it. I guess I can say that I actually saw one, I guess.

...Beverly

If you drive by/cross Big Darby or Little Darby the noise is almost deafening and your windshield will invariably get splattered. Wait until one lands one you with the big bulgy red eyes!

After returning from a two week vacation I am amazed at how many we have. Unfortunately they have really infested my japanese maple. I'm not sure what to do about it. I posted on the maples forum but so far no suggestions. Here is a link to my post, do any of you have any ideas??

Thanks
Jean

Here is a link that might be useful: cicadas and japanese maple

They are all over Dublin. The noise has been so deafening that I've been wearing earplugs outside. They are a real nuisance, especially in early afternoon when they seem to be particularly active. They land on your shirt, in your hair, and you learn to keep your mouth shut.

I'm ready for them to find their holes for another 17 years. Believe me folks, they were interesting for a day or two, but they lose their allure quickly. It remains to be seen how much damage they've cause to my small shrubs and trees.

Has anyone else observed that the heads and wings apparently don't taste good? I've found several 'missing bodies' -- just heads with wings. Some are even still alive and trying to walk around. Luckily, there aren't many at all in my yard or my neighbors, although there are plenty of trees around that are much older than 17 years, including ash, apple, and maple. So I don't have tooo many to observe. (I'm in Powell.) But friends of ours about 1/2 mile down the street are inundated!

Has anyone else noticed the bodyless heads?

It is not that they don't taste good so much. The soft, fatty, protein-rich part of the insect is inside the thorax. Most smaller birds can't get threw the exoskeleton of the cicada's head. And there really isn't much nutrition to wings.

Well, I've been a fool. I figured, for some reason, that we wouldn't get much of an invasion where I live. A few, fine. When they first came out, I felt pretty smug about our cicada-free status; we even had friends out for a cookout Memorial Day who oohed and aahed about how quiet our yard was compared to theirs.

Yet I'd drive no more than five minutes west or south and the noise would be deafening.

Hm...

Suddenly my yard is full of the ugly critters. And my brand new fruit trees, which I should have covered with netting, are now cicada hatcheries. I went out yesterday and watched those gals in action.

Maybe I'll get the camera out and make a little quicktime movie of how cicadas lay eggs in my BRAND NEW PLUM TREE SAPLING. Sigh...

I think it's now fairly safe to say that my yard will not be seriously invaded by the pesky critters. Guess I'm lucky that we bought in a newer development. I can hear the buggers in the older treed areas when I'm in my front yard, but not really in the back garden area. It's actually quieted down a lot in the last week or so. I have found a couple of heads and wings in the garden mulch, but I attribute that to the birds nesting in my ash trees. Wed. evening I did find a live one sitting on the top of hubby's screened seedling cage. Didn't even try to fly away when I walked up to him (or her). My guess is that he was tuckered out & lonely with no friends anywhere within earshot of him. Haven't seen another since then.

So ........ keeping my fingers crossed. -- PAM

For what it's worth, cicadas are apparently very high in nitrogen and phospherous -- same as high-priced fertilizer.

Given that they smell like bad tuna as they rot, I'd be reluctant to use them as mulch, but those of you have have 'em thick might want to consider sweeping them up and burying them in your compost piles. By the end of the summer you can pity those of use who didn't have any!

Not phospherous; potassium -- still good stuff!

I am just soo glad they are gone! Here in Western Ohio...NW of Dayton, near the Indiana border, they were awful!! The silence is wonderful now...wellllllllll..not quite silence..but..you know what I mean!!